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On Monday, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its semiannual report on federal spending. The report, The Budget and Economic Outlook: 2018 to 2028, looks at trends in federal spending, budget deficits, and the share of the national debt held by the public. If one is looking at the report through the lens of fiscal conservatism, the picture is ominous to say the least.

In 2015, Congressman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) started a movement to remove then-Speaker of the House, John Boehner (R-Ohio), from his position. Of this effort, Meadows said, "It's really more about trying to have a conversation on making this place work, where everybody's voice matters, where there's not a punitive culture. Hopefully, we'll have some discussion about that in the days and weeks to come."

The nation continues to debate President Trump’s State of the Union speech, picking it apart for alternative facts, exaggerations, and flaws. Many critics have honed in on the president’s discussion of the country’s recent economic upswing, arguing that the current boom is the result of eight years of Barack Obama, not one year of Donald Trump.

Thanks to the historic tax reform passed by congressional Republicans at the end of last year, the economy is booming. Even better, the job market is exploding, and fewer workers are receiving unemployment benefits than at any point during the last 44 years.

Rep. Darrell Issa’s (R-Calif.) retirement announcement marks another instance of a growing trend. More and more Republican lawmakers are retiring after this legislative session — some to seek higher office at the federal and state level, some to private-sector ventures, and some simply out of a desire to be at home and with their families.

Busy Bee’s is a popular destination for parents of young children in the Washington, D.C. area. Its two locations are especially packed on cold days thanks to its indoor playgrounds that include balloon pits, swinging chairs and slides. No doubt there are play concepts like Busy Bee’s all over the U.S., just as there are businesses similar to it throughout D.C.

Back in 2010, and amid a particularly difficult stretch for the economy, a conservative economist teamed up with lefty economist Dean Baker in support of what they referred to as “work sharing.” As the duo put it at the time, “Under a work-sharing program, firms are encouraged by government policy to spread a small amount of the pain across many workers. In a typical arrangement, a worker might see his weekly hours go down by 20%, and his salary go down by about 4%.”

FreedomWorks Vice President of Legislative Affairs Jason Pye released the following statement regarding the possibility of the Senate including spending cuts as a trigger if the economy fails to produce enough revenues under the new tax code: